Philo
Hellenistic Jewish philosopher (c. 20 BCE – c. 50 CE) / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Philo of Alexandria (/ˈfaɪloʊ/; Ancient Greek: Φίλω-ν, romanized: Phílōn; Hebrew: יְדִידְיָה, romanized: Yəḏīḏyāh (Jedediah); c. 20 BCE – c. 50 CE), also called Philō Judæus,[lower-alpha 1] was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt.
Philo | |
---|---|
Born | c. 20 BCE |
Died | c. 50 CE (age c. 75) |
Era | Ancient philosophy |
Region | Ancient Roman philosophy |
School | Middle Platonism Hellenistic Judaism |
Main interests | Cosmology, philosophy of religion |
Notable ideas | Allegorical interpretation of the Torah |
The only event in Philo's life that can be decisively dated is his representation of the Alexandrian Jews in a delegation to the Roman emperor Caligula in 40 CE following civil strife between the Jewish and Greek communities of Alexandria.[1][2][3]
Philo was a leading writer of the Hellenistic Jewish community in Alexandria, Egypt. He wrote expansively in Koine Greek on the intersection of philosophy, politics, and religion in his time; specifically, he explored the connections between Greek Platonic philosophy and late Second Temple Judaism. For example, he maintained that the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible and additional books) and Jewish law (which was still being developed by the rabbis in this period) are a blueprint for the pursuit of individual enlightenment.
Philo's deployment of allegory to harmonize Jewish scripture, mainly the Torah, with Greek philosophy was the first documented of its kind, and thereby often misunderstood. Many critics of Philo assumed his allegorical perspective would lend credibility to the notion of legend over historicity.[4] Philo often advocated a literal understanding of the Torah and the historicity of such described events, while at other times favoring allegorical readings.[5]